Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“Yes,” Fiona nodded, then leaned forward in her chair. “But do you know how you won?”
Selene thought back to the last bits of the game she could remember, the wolf dragging her up the hill, the others piling on Fiona. Abe.
“The others…” Selene said. “They held you back, and one of them pulled me into the safe zone.”
Fiona nodded.
Galen looked between them.
“Since I can see that you are doing alright, I will give you two some privacy,” Galen said. “I need to make sure Alexander’s alright and doesn’t hear about this from someone else.”
“Why wouldn’t he be alright?” Selene asked, sitting up in her bed suddenly.
“I would also like that answer,” Fiona smiled.
Galen chuckled and then brought his phone to his ear.
“Hello? Yes, this is Galen… an emergency? I’ll be right there!”
He shrugged his shoulders and then quickly left the room.
“I’ll find him later and get an answer,” Fiona smiled, looking back at Selene. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, just a little sore.”
Fiona nodded.
“So,” Selene said. “I guess it was kind of an empty victory.”
Fiona tilted her head and looked carefully at Selene.
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Because I didn’t win on my own,” Selene replied.
Fiona smiled.
“I never said you had to.”
Selene narrowed her eyes. She looked at Fiona, trying to understand what she meant.
“Actually, there are many ways to win that game,” Fiona continued. “But there is one in particular that very few have ever found.”
“What’s that?”
Fiona reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
“You remember that each wolf was given a role or a task? Something they alone knew?”
Selene nodded her head.
“They are each given one or the other, a role or a task,” Fiona continued. “But there is one role that has an optional task.”
“Ok…” Selene said, unsure what Fiona was getting at.
“This was the task given to the woman that came for you, the one that called the others and then dragged you across the finish line.”
Selene took the paper and opened it. Her eyes widened at what she read. She heard a voice, two voices, calling out to her from memory.
‘Close…. rather than like you, they should respect you and trust you.’
Corrine’s words to Selene had been advice.
‘…in Summer, we are all parts of a whole. No one of us can do it all. So instead, we all do it as one… if you want to be their Luna… then think of them and what they need.’
But Fiona’s had been an answer.
“Read it out loud,” Fiona said.
“Role: Alpha of a Peaceful Pack. Optional Task: Abandon the peace for a worthy Luna.”
“You won today because you were accepted by this pack as someone they will follow. Someone they will fight and die for if necessary.”
Selene stared at Fiona with complete shock. She was accepted? No, it was only a game, and only a few wolves.
“They chose you over me, Selene,” Fiona continued. “This whole time, not once in any other round did a single wolf choose you. But this time, when you chose to protect them in place of winning the game, they chose you.”
“I wasn’t trying to–”
“Isn’t that the point?” Fiona smiled. “You saved Abe because he was a pup in trouble. But you could have left him after you took care of the wolves after him. Or you could have even left him with one of the others you came across.
“You chose to bring him to the safe zone yourself to ensure he made it. You carried him and took long detours to keep him safe. They saw that choice. They respected it.”
“I appreciate that, but it was only a few wolves. So it’s a bit of a stretch to say that this pack has accepted me,” Selene replied.
Fiona grabbed the stool that sat at the small counter. She brought it over and sat down beside Selene.
“This game is about more than the stated goal,” Fiona smiled. “The only way I could win was to keep you out of the safe zone. But you had many ways to win. You just never found them until this round. When you stopped thinking of brute force as the only thing you have to offer this pack.”
Fiona smiled at Selene. She saw that the young Luna had difficulty accepting her words.
“Each wolf participating in the game is a representative of Summer. Whether it be from a division, a small group, or an entire sector. The howls, did you hear them?”.
Selene thought back to just before she lost consciousness before the wolves came. She remembered the howl now, the chorus that echoes back.
She nodded.
“That wolf that let out the first howl? She was announcing you as a worthy Luna. Those that returned her howl agreed. Did you also happen to notice that wolves arrived to help you, but those that had already chosen me were nowhere to be seen?”
Selene furrowed her brow. It was true. She had seen several wolves in human form with red badges throughout the match. Those would have been the ones that had chosen Fiona. But none of them had been on the hill at the end.
“Since they had already chosen me, the only thing they could do when their allegiance shifted, was take up the peace that your wolves had abandoned.”
Selene blinked. She let out a breath of air, still not understanding what had happened. She hadn’t done anything special.
“Selene, it’s not as complicated as you are making it,” Fiona smiled, reaching her hand out to touch Selene’s. “For weeks, they have watched you fight your way through the game, yes, you lost, but you kept trying.
“To some, it was a sign of your spirit, your persistence. To others, it was a concern that all you recognized as a viable solution was violence.”
Fiona paused.
“This wasn’t Abe’s first appearance in the games, just the first time you found him. But your reaction to him and choosing to save the two women who gave you an out….”
Fiona let out a soft sigh and a bright smile. She raised her hand to Selene’s cheek.
“It just confirmed for everyone else what I already knew.”
“What’s that?” Selene asked, unsure why she felt a tear falling.
“The Goddess made the right choice, and so did Alexander.”
Selene felt an intense flood of emotion. She clenched her jaw and pursed her lips. Her stomach tightened as she tried to hold it in.
Fiona leaned close and kissed the top of Selene’s head, just like Alexander so often did when he offered her comfort.
“It’s ok to feel relieved,” Fiona whispered.
Selene let out a chuckle, and with that chuckle, she drew a shaky breath. She hadn’t quite realized how tired she was. How hard she had tried; how much she had wanted to win. As hard as she tried, as hard as she fought. She only won when she stopped trying to.
She let the tears fall. She let the weariness settle over her.
Fiona stayed by her side quietly as Selene allowed herself to fall into the emotions she had been holding back.
The pack had accepted her. She wasn’t sure how to react to that. She was excited, terrified, and overwhelmed. Selene had hoped that winning this game would help, but she never expected it to work so well.
All she needed now was to complete her promise.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?